The age of Rama has begun — and Bollywood just announced it to the world. Dharma Productions released the official trailer of Ramayana on Thursday, July 30, 2026, unveiling one of the most ambitious Hindi films ever assembled: a Diwali 2026 theatrical event directed by Nitesh Tiwari, scored by Hans Zimmer and A.R. Rahman, and filmed for IMAX.

The trailer, posted by Dharma with the declaration 'Yeh Hai Ram Ke Yug Ka Aarambh' ('This is the beginning of the age of Ram'), confirms a cast that reads like a collision of eras: Ranbir Kapoor as Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Sunny Deol as Hanuman, and Yash as the antagonist Ravana. India's northern distribution is handled by Dharma Distribution, with music releasing under T-Series. The film is set for cinemas worldwide on Diwali 2026.

Nitesh Tiwari's leap from Dangal to the divine

Nitesh Tiwari built his reputation on grounded, human-scale stories — most notably Dangal (2016), a wrestling drama that became one of the highest-grossing Indian films ever made. Ramayana is an order-of-magnitude shift: from a wrestling pit in Haryana to an epic that spans kingdoms, forests, and oceans. The choice of Tiwari signals that the producers want emotional authenticity at the centre of spectacle — a director who earns tears before he earns applause.

Zimmer meets Rahman: the score that could redefine Indian blockbuster music

The pairing of Hans Zimmer — whose orchestral work has defined blockbusters from Hollywood to global streaming — with A.R. Rahman, India's only double Oscar-winning composer, is the film's most audacious creative bet. Zimmer brings the sonic architecture of planetary-scale cinema; Rahman brings the melodic and spiritual vocabulary that Indian audiences carry in their bones. Together, they are being asked to score a text that millions of Indians consider not just mythology but lived faith.

Why Diwali 2026 is the right window — and a massive gamble

Diwali has long been Bollywood's most contested release corridor, a slot where only the biggest productions dare to plant their flag. Releasing Ramayana during the festival of lights — itself rooted in Rama's return to Ayodhya — is both symbolically precise and commercially calculated. IMAX distribution worldwide signals that the producers are pitching this not merely as a Hindi film but as a global cultural event, targeting the Indian diaspora and international audiences simultaneously.

Indian studios have periodically mounted high-budget adaptations of epic texts, but the convergence here — a celebrated director, a star-studded cast, two of the world's most decorated composers, IMAX format, and a Diwali window — is without recent precedent in scale. The trailer is the opening move in what will be one of the most closely watched box-office campaigns in Indian cinema history. The age of Ram, it turns out, begins with a very loud trailer.